Best Cover Songs Ever

I had Sinéad O'Connor's Throw Down Your Arms on repeat for what seemed like months when it first came out. Unlike most of her earlier covers (slow it down, take out so much of the instrumentation that it's practically a capella) these are pretty faithful to the originals but differ in one important aspect - That wonderful voice.

Downpressor Man



...and Peter Tosh's original:



Vampire



...and Lee Perry's Ketch Vampire

__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Gretchen Wilson & Alice in Chains - Barracuda

I thought there was no way in hell that she would pull this off.

I was floored.

I do realize this isn't completely a cover tune.

The Residents - Hey Good Lookin (Hank Williams Sr.)

&p=F9E46A870E546CF5&index=1

The Original:

GREAT cover by his royal awesome of awesomeness, Tom Jones

__________________
Under-the-radar Movie Awesomeness.
http://earlsmoviepicks.blogspot.com/

Wow, T, that Tosh cover was amazing, thanks for posting that one!

Oh, forgot this one, Baby's Got Back by Jonathan Coulton

Mrs. Darcy is a rocker? First time I heard the original Joan Baez version it was appropriately in a mall.

Speaking of Judas Priest, how about this one?

The Green Manalishi

&feature=related

The voice makes it, I think. It makes the hairs on the back of yer neck stand up.

This one's not on YouTube so I'll post the link - Hindu Love Gods - Raspberry Beret

If you don't know, The Hindu Love Gods were an alcohol-fuelled side project for a Stipeless REM and the late great Warren Zevon. They sound exactly like what they probably intended - a bar band. But a great bar band.

__________________

Dave Edmunds is so terrific that I never think of his albums as "cover" albums even if most of them basically are. His work with Rockpile (Nick Lowe, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams) is the apex of his career, and my personal fave is Repeat When Necessary, an almost flawless album which showcases Edmunds' spectacular arrangements, production, vocals and guitar work. Every song is a winner.





Here's the track listing:

1. "Girls Talk" (Elvis Costello)
2. "Crawling from the Wreckage" (Graham Parker)
3. "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" (Billy Bremner)
4. "Sweet Little Lisa" (Donivan Cowart, Martin Cowart, Hank DeVito)
5. "Dynamite" (Mort Garson, Tom Glazer)
6. "Queen of Hearts" (Hank DeVito)
7. "Home in My Hand" (Ronnie Self)
8. "Goodbye Mister Good Guy" (Pat Meager, Bremner)
9. "Take Me for a Little While" (Trade Martin)
10. "We Were Both Wrong" (Bremner)
11. "Bad Is Bad" (Huey Lewis)

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

What a relief, I thought you were going to post another Sebastian Cabot cover.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Subterranean Homesick Blues



Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground

&ob=av2n

Hey Yoda this is really cool now that the YouTube thingy works!

I can do that easily enough...


That's a crock too. I can find Sebastian Cabot songs on YouTube, but I can't find one decent version of any of the songs from Repeat When Necessary.

Well, except for these, but none of them sound as good as the actual record which is a good argument for listening to vinyl vs. digital.

&p=6F7685E76AACA827&playnext=1&index=2

Kraftwerk's Das Model and two covers



Snakefinger



Big Black




Also Aphex Twin - fingerbib and cover by Alarm Will sound:

Laibach - geburt einer nation



vs. Queen - One Vision



The Butthole Surfers - American Woman



vs. The Guess Who

Scott Walker - Jackie



vs. Jacques Brel - Jacky



Dos Minutos, does the Spanish-speaking world a tremendous service by translating Glenn Danzig into Spanish "me converti en un marciano." (I can picture them going "so that's what he meant by 'woh-oh-OH.'")



vs. The Misfits - I turned into a Martian

Now I'm scarred for life.

The Residents- Its a Man's Man's Man's World



Stormtroopers of Death - Diamonds and Rust (extended version)



Diamanda Galas - Gloomy Sunday

&feature=related

Tori Amos - Raining Blood

Really enjoyed Diamanda Galas

Here's another one from the Residents

Hound Dog (unfortunately no video)

I saw Lee Perry briefly at Bumbershoot a few years ago, but Stone Temple Pilots were playing at the same time.

Social Distortion- Ring of Fire

I've always loved Marc Almond's version of Jacky.



His sister once got me backstage at an Almond gig. She was a good mate of a friend's wife. I think.

Ha, I didn't know Almond covered it too. That's a cool story, Tacitus. Almond is pretty gnarly.

Here's Almond with Foetus on backing vocals, covering Suicide live. Eat your heart out, Springstein!



Suicide - Ghost Rider